Syria and Hezbollah seize rebel stronghold

Syria’s army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah seized full control of the rebel bastion Yabrud yesterday, dealing the opposition a heavy symbolic and strategic blow in the Qalamoun region along the Lebanese border.

An AFP reporter entered the town after the army declared it had captured the opposition stronghold north of the capital. Syrian soldiers sat in the streets after seizing the town in fierce clashes with the support of battle-hardened fighters from Lebanon’s Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah and pro-regime militiamen.

“It was a very difficult battle, possibly the most difficult we have faced,” a soldier who identified himself as Abu Mohammed told AFP in Yabrud’s central square between puffs from a traditional water-pipe.